EXCLUSIVE Andre Ward on stepping in to fight Tony Bellew

FORMER light-heavyweight kingpin Andre Ward announced his retirement last year, after he had defended his three world titles against Sergey Kovalev earlier in 2017.

But the American star remains in prime condition. Even though he insists he is training just to train, rather than for any specific endeavor, Ward admits he is always ready.

“When I retired, it was sincere,” Andre told Boxing News. “I’m working on staying fit, building my body up. It’s in my nature to stay ready, man, that’s just who I am.”

There would however be plenty of appealing fights for him, notably stepping in to box Tony Bellew if David Haye suffers another injury setback. Haye boxes Bellew on May 5, a rematch that had to be rescheduled after Haye suffered a biceps injury in training. Haye had also torn his Achilles tendon in their first encounter last year.

If he were to suffer another misfortune and if Ward is indeed staying ready, the high profile American would be the ideal candidate to replace Haye to have a major fight with Bellew. But Ward maintains, “That’s news to me! I think it’s a good rumour, though. It kinda makes sense.”